Albany: The New Hollywood?
Thanks to groups, such as Upstate Independents, Albany is getting put in the cinematic map
Rob Caracciolo
Issue date: 5/3/04 Section: Entertainment Industry
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Whenever someone thinks of hot movie locations, one mostly thinks of New York City or Los Angeles. Instead, Albany is becoming a hot-bed for not only small independent films, but also large studio blockbusters. Many film organizations around the area are drawing attention from Hollywood, while creating high-quality, digital films of their own.
In 1995, Upstate Independents (UI) was formed. What originally started out as a small and dedicated group of filmmakers has grown to approximately 150 members based out of the Albany/Troy area. Members include independent filmmakers, screenwriters, actors, and media artists. UI is a salon of the Association of Independent and Video Filmmakers.
"We meet the first Tuesday of every month," explained vice-president Jeff Burns. Along with president Howard Garbarsky, Burns helps navigate meetings, which include: announcements of members' projects and other film-related events, networking sessions, screenings of members' works and programs on particular aspects of filmmaking.
The group's meetings are open to all. Group membership can be attained for $20 a year. This includes being put into an e-mail database list, where members can e-mail each other and exchange ideas back and forth about possible projects. "We've had programs on directing actors, staging stunts for film, editing, lighting, and the business of filmmaking...the programs provide a great educational aspect to the group," says Burns.
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As VP, Burns also must make sure that all goes smoothly for the other office and board members.
A typical day for Burns finds him responding to calls or e-mails from members, other officers, or people interested in the group. Burns, along with his other officers is a volunteer. "My regular job is tutoring high school students. I'm also a co-founder of the start-up company Writing Methods and have been teaching learning-disabled high school students how to improve their writing," explains Burns.
Knightsfalls Production is the production company that Burns started. Under this production he's released three movies. They're "Everything About Her" in 2001, "More Than Friends?" in 2002, and the comedy horror spoof "Lesbian Blockbuster 8" in 2003. These short films range from two minutes to just under 30 minutes.
During 2001, Burns served as a production assistant on "The Time Machine." The film was shot for eight days around the Capital Region. The locations included, Washington Park, on Troy's 2nd street and in Schenectady's Central Park. "These areas were used to replicate the late 19th century New York City," he says.
Other notable films that were recently shot in the Capital Region include "Seabiscuit," "The Horse Whisperer," "Ironweed" and "The Emperor's Club". All were filmed in Saratoga with the exception of "The Emperor's Club", which was shot at the Emma Willard School in Troy.
In 2003, Burns started the Independent Digital Film Series, which has been held three times at Hudson Valley Community College. The series was a forum for local filmmakers to show their work, and also raises the public's awareness of local filmmaking.
Several members of UI are currently working on projects and more will be in this upcoming summer. Shawn Schaffer just finished shooting his second short film "Pawn". Mike Kazlo is editing his vampire feature "Bloodlust." UI's vice-president of programming, Mike Feurstein shot "Pit/Melon." Tom Mercer, who's one of UI's co-founders, is currently finishing shooting his militia-themed film entitled "The Enemy Within." Burns will be shooting his third short, a drama titled "Boundaries," this summer.
Upstate Independents also features screenplay readings about four times a year through "Movies Without Sound." These readings, which are hedl at various locations throughout the Capital Region, are funded by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. Past readings have been held at the WAMC Performing Arts Center, Schenectady County Community College, and the Saratoga Arts Center.
Burns and his colleagues are open to working with other organizations, such as the Saratoga Film Commission. It's a separate entity that is run by Linda Toohey, executive vice-president of the Saratoga Springs Chamber of Commerce. Burns also explains that: "A new Capital/ Saratoga Film Community is in the process of being created, and UI will be involved in that. Our members will be included in a database of cast and crew."
According to an article published in Metroland on Oct. 16, 2003, The goal of the film commission is to not only have a full-time focused effort to support local filmmakers, but to also be proactive in drawing production companies from Hollywood and New York City. "We want the area to become known as a very user-friendly place to make films, videos, commercials, TV shows, documentaries, corporate videos, and all of the other outputs of this industry," says Thea Snyder, advocate for the formation of a Capital Region-centered commission.
Snyder also explains that, "We believe that this can be a positive, cooperative effort between the many local jurisdictions," says Snyder, "to help build a solid base of creative talent living and working in this area."
The the new film commission will facilitate it for producers who want to film in the area. These producers will be able to go into the central database to select people to work on their film. Thea Snyder, of the Tech Valley Angel Network, and Linda Toohey are leading the organization of this community. Mike Camoin, a co-founder of UI, has also helped push this initiative along.
For the past two and a half years, Upstate Independents has been meeting at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy. The group recently finalized the move to Hudson Valley Community College. "Our President, Howard Garbarsky, and I facilitated our move to HVCC", states Burns.
Burns explains the reason for the move to be that their group is outgrowing the capacity of the arts center. This new and larger venue is the Bulmer Telecommunications Center Auditorium at HVCC. The auditorium has a 240-person capacity and a large built-in screen, along with two state of the art video projectors.
May 4 will mark the groups last meeting at the Arts Center of the Capital Region. This will indeed be a welcome change. "We've had to bring a screen and projector to our meetings up to this point", explains Burns. Along with his fellow UI officers and members, Burns looks to the future of Upstate Independents with enthusiasm and optimism.
"It's a great space, and we're really looking forward to holding our meetings there, beginning in June," he says. "I think the move will give us an even more professional look and will provide a great venue to display our members' films."